“No, I have not,” Kiffin said about using Joey Freshwater. “I’ve used Jimmy Chestnut but not Joey Freshwater.”

The Joey Freshwater legend began when he started his tenure as offensive coordinator in Alabama in 2014. As the story goes, Kiffin would go out to local bars and told patrons that his name was Joey Freshwater. The story began to get legs — so much so that Kiffin said he saw a female Alabama fan wearing an Alabama jersey with “Freshwater” on the name plate.

But Kiffin chalked up the rumors as just a part of life as an offensive coordinator for a team with national championship aspirations every single season.

“People write things that aren’t true,” Kiffin said. “It is what it is. I would like to think that people I’ve worked with, people who have worked for me or have been around me a lot say very different than what’s out there by people who don’t know me.”

Of course, Kiffin was joking when he said he used Jimmy Chestnut as an alias. Kiffin, 41, will begin a stint as head coach at Florida Atlantic this season.